Eternal Reunion
by eisabelai
Summary: "If I had just told him to stop. If I had just told him that it was fine, that I didn't really need the other, then he'd still be alive. They'd both be." Team 7 One-shot.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Any type of criticism is _allowed and encouraged_.**

**Enjoy.  
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I've always relied on them.** From the very beginning to the gruesome end. I had a chance to save them, to be the hero, to be looked up to, but I failed. Even with their lives on the line I couldn't step up to the plate, I couldn't help._

_If he hadn't woken up, we'd all be dead. When he left, I thought the world was going to end. I never took the time to notice what was right in front of me, even when he wasn't around. I love him, but not how I once thought. I thought he was the one for me, that I loved him with all my heart, but with his absence over the years I realized that I didn't love him. No, I didn't, but she did. _

_She noticed him first. She made me notice him. He had always been in my classes, but I didn't spare him a second glace. I'd always fantasized about the perfect man to fall in love with. She talked about him non stop; How his hair was the perfect shade of midnight blue, contrasting with her white blonde. And the way his coal black eyes were in every way the best match for her bright blues. The more she said, the more I began to place him into the empty frame of my perfect man. _

_For so many years I chased him and confessed "my love" for him. But when I think about it now I find it so funny. I mean, how do you love someone you've never spoken to? The truth is that I was infatuated with him. Boy do I feel stupid now. Even after he left I continued to believe that I loved him._

**_ What made me realize these things? _**

_Maybe it was because I knew he wouldn't come back. Maybe I just sat and thought about it. Or maybe, just maybe, it was because I fell in love, for real this time. _

_Then there was the other one. His bright blond hair always spiked in every direction, it was like he'd never heard of a brush. He had bright blue eyes that lit up the sun and put the most brilliant sky to to shame. _

_It's hard to imagine him six feet under, his golden hair in the dirt, and his beautiful eyes forever closed._

_He brought joy to everyone. But for so many years I ignored him or called him annoying. I was always too focused on impressing our raven haired companion to notice the feelings he held for me. He knew what love was. He shared his love with everyone, even those who didn't deserve it. He always wore a large smile and brightened everyone's day. No matter what, he always placed my life before his own. He protected me countless time, but I could never protect him. He would do anything for me. I wanted something, he'd get it. No matter what it cost him. He risked his life so many times going after the one who left. _

_If I had just told him to stop. If I had just told him that it was fine, that I didn't really need the other, then he'd still be alive. They'd both be. It was my fault. If I hadn't been so selfish, if I had just noticed all the pain he went through. . ._

_The raven haired avenger drained the life out of my golden angel, slowly. So slowly, I watched the life dim from eyes, until it was entirely gone. Even then, I didn't move. I made no advance towards them. I didn't try to stop it. Second after the first life was lost, realization crept into coal black eyes. Fear consumed him as he began to shake uncontrollably. He dropped to his knees and cradled the soulless corpse as tears escaped him. _

_I took one uncertain step forward. _

_Instantly his head whipped in my direction. Slowly his hand rose, tightly clenching a kunai. For a moment i thought he was going to attack me, but with unsteady ease he plunged the metallic object into his heart. Once more I stayed rooted to the spot, letting it sink in. His eyes never left me. And just as I had seen before, life began to seep from eyes. With his final breath he muttered his dying wish, words I could never forget. _

_"Live. . Sak. . ura. ." _

_His body then slumped over the others. _

_He no longer stared at me, but through me with dull, lifeless eyes. _

_I didn't go near them. I couldn't. I was terrified to touch their frozen skin. Terrified not to hear their breathing. And so all I could do was flare my chakra to signal the Hokage. When she arrived, along with Kakashi, I was still in the same spot, still staring at the dead coal eyes that never closed. Their words did not reach me, for all I could hear was a strained voice begging me to live. Kakashi lifted my dark angel and Tsunade took my light. Someone unknown to me lifted me off the ground and proceeded to walk back to the village. _

_Not many attended the funerals. Only close friends. Some wept, others went into hysterics. I didn't cry. I had no tears, I had no feeling, I had nothing. For weeks I slept between their graves, refusing to leave them. I tried taking my own life, but every time a strained voice repeated its dying words in my mind._

_Eventually I began to live. I smiled and tried to enjoy every moment of my life. When I was Twenty-five I fell in love with a brown haired boy. We dated for seven years, then married. We had two children. Renji, our son, had light brown hair and lavender eyes. Suki, our daughter, had light pink hair and lavender eyes. _

_My visits to the graves became less frequent, but every time I went I'd tell them about everything that had happened since my last visit. Just because I didn't very very often didn't mean that they weren't on my mind. Actually they were almost always in my thought. I tried to only think of the good times, but every once in a while I'd remember their deaths._

_I realized that it took their deaths for me to notice everything I'd always over looked. It took their deaths for me to get stronger. I never wanted to be the reason for someone's death again. So I trained harder and protected those that I could, but wept for those that I couldn't. _

_I hardly saw our former squad leader after they passed away. He spent most of his time at the ramen shop and their graves. He passed away thirty-three years ago. He was killed in a mission. They placed him beside the golden angel. I'm the last one of our team alive. I live for all four of us. _

_Today was my ninety-eighth birthday. I know I don't have much time left in this world, I can feel it. Soon I will be joining the rest of team seven. I have one request before I go, please place me between my angels, that is where I belong. _

_Goodbye my love, my children, my friends. _

_I'm off to see the ones I lost, for it has been far too long. It is time for our eternal reunion._

**_ -Sakura Hyuuga_**

_P.S. Please inscribe my name on my headstone as Sakura Haruno-Hyuuga. I'd like them to remember me._

Sakura folded her will and placed it on her pillow. She stood up and quietly crept out of her house. She made her way to the cemetery unnoticed. Once there she laid between her teammates graves and closed her eyes.

"I'm coming my angels. I'm coming." She whispered to the ground.

As the last word escaped her lips she smiled and thought of their smiling faces. She clutched the picture in her hand and let death take her.

He grip on the picture was gone and the wind swept it away. It didn't go very far for it got caught on the sharp edge of the KIA stone. Minutes later many AMBU members ran past it, searching for the ninety-eight year old woman. No one noticed the picture flapping wildly, trying to escape. No one except the last member who was scanning the area more carefully than the others.

She grabbed the picture and stared at it. On the left there was a raven haired boy scowling. In the middle was a pink haired girl smiling brightly. On the right was a blond boy glaring at the boy on the left. Behind them, with his hands on the boys heads and an embarrassed smile on his covered face, was a silver haired man.

She pulled off her mask, resulting in her pink hair falling to cover her face. She ran off toward the cemetery. She found her brother and father kneeling over her mother. She showed them the photo she found.

"Lets wield a frame with this picture to her grave." Renji suggested.

They all agreed and sat around her, holding hands.

"Goodbye my love, and thank you for the most wonderful life possible." Whispered Neji, her husband.

"Goodbye mom. Thank you for teaching me all you could and for loving me." Whispered Renji.

"Goodbye mom. thank you for all your love and support. I'll miss you a lot." Whispered Suki.

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When Sakura opened her eyes she saw a bright blue sky and endless field of grass. She stood up and looked at the few trees that were scattered around in the distance.

Someone called her name.

It was a voice she recognized, a voice she could never forget.

She turned and saw a beautiful lake. The crystal clear water was shimmering with the reflection of the sun. But what was greater was what she found in the lake. No, **_who_** she found in the lake.

Naruto, her golden angel, her light, her sun, waved excitedly in the water and gave her such a bright smile she thought she might go blind. Sasuke, her dark angel, her teammate, her _friend_, sat in the grass smiling at her and beckoning her to join them. And Kakashi, her sensei, her superior, her father, sat in a tree reading his favorite book. He winked at her and waved. She could see him smiling beneath the mask he wore.

They all looked the same as she remembered them, young and undeniably happy.

She took off, it started as a slow jog. As she ran, her years dropped and she picked up speed. She looked about twenty-three when she reached them, but with out stopping she dived into the lake. When she surfaced, her hair had grow past her waist, all signs of wrinkles were long gone, and she lost about an inch and half of height. She looked like she had when she was eighteen.

She threw her arms around Naruto's neck and hugged him. Sasuke stood up and jumped in to join them. He wrapped his arms around both of them.

Sakura looked up at Kakashi, "Come join us, Sensei!"

Smiling to them he put down his book, removed his mask, and jumped in. He appeared in front of them and put his arms around them, completing the hug, and completing team seven.

Sakura smiled mischievously at them and whispered, "We finally got Kakashi mask off!"

They turned to stare at him, as if just noticing that their sensei had taken it off. Kakashi smiled a large smile and began to laugh. It became infectious and within moments they were all holding each other and laughing.

Naruto sighed as everyone's giggles ceased and looked at them all with a small smile, "I'm missed you guys."

Sasuke smiled at him and grabbed his hand, "Well we're not going anywhere anymore. We're staying together this time."

Kakashi smiled and grabbed Naruto's other hand, "Team seven, my favorite team, and my only team."

They looked at Sakura. Sasuke and Kakashi held out a hand to her. She grabbed both, completing the circle. She looked up to the sky, smiling brightly and allowing a few tears of joy escape her. Then, looking back at them, she lightly squeezed their hands.

_"It's good to finally have our eternal reunion."_

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